


Safe Place

by sugarplumsenpai



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack, Fluff, Ice Cream, M/M, Tea, pillows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7418206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarplumsenpai/pseuds/sugarplumsenpai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is having his monthly case of fan crisis. </p><p>Eren tries to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe Place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elliewritesthings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliewritesthings/gifts).



> This is absolutely and 100 % self-indulgent. 
> 
> Also, thanks to [Ellie](http://crying-abt-fictional-people.tumblr.com/) for giving me the inspiration. <3

It was that time of the month again. Eren had just stepped into the living room and found Levi laying face-down on the couch, the fluffy, orange blanket wrapped over him and only the top of his head peeking out.

“So bad?”

“Worse,” came muffled from the cushions.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Everything.”

“Uh-huh. Okay. Who died this time?”

“I don’t know.” And after a while “I…I can’t even talk about it.”

“I’ll leave you alone then.”

“Hm…”

Eren took one last, worried glance at the pile of stuffed blanket on the couch and went into the kitchen. There was no use in trying to talk to Levi when he was like this. And eventually, Eren knew, Levi would spill it anyway. He’d just have to be patient.

So meanwhile he busied himself with preparing for the waterfall. He stepped into the kitchen and began to brew some tea, a four-of-five star premium one that looked as green as grass in spring—Levi’s favourite these days. It might help a bit. Hopefully it would. After pouring water out of the water filter (they’d had to buy new cartridges soon) into a kettle he let it come to a boil on the stove.

A drawn-out groan echoed from the living room, followed by a soft thudding sound. Levi must have come back from his hideout in an attempt to face the unavoidable again, only to see something on the internet he wasn’t prepared to face yet, and dropped right back into his safe place.

By now the kettle was whistling and Eren removed it from the stove while he searched the cupboard for the kyusuu and spooned the right amount of tea leaves into it.

“You know…” he began. “You could just stop reading that.”

“No.” It sounded disgusted.

“But–”

“No!”

“Levi…”

“I endure your crabbing and moping about Game of Thrones too. Just let me have this.”

“But, it hurts you.”

“Don’t care.”

Eren smiled. They would have the same discussion in the next month again. Probably in the exact same wording and in the exact same positions: Levi hiding in his ‘fort’ and Eren trying to coddle him with tea.

After taking another peek into the living room—the pile on the couch had a pillow on top now and by the bulge of the blanket Levi held another one in his arms—Eren decided this was something only Ben and Jerry could solve.

Diagnose: A serious case of fan heartbreak. They seemed to become stronger and stronger lately…at least he had been having that feeling for almost half a year now. The last time it had taken Eren a whole week to fully get Levi back to the living. A day later, however, Levi had looked at a picture of the ocean and had had a relapse Eren hadn’t been able to understand, now matter how much Levi had tried to explain. Shouldn’t oceans make you happy? Whatever Levi had faced that day: It had to be really ugly.

Eren only hoped this time would be a little bit easier for the both of them. At least Levi indeed did nurse him through the nasty Game of Thrones roller coaster as well. Maybe they were even steven after all…

Estimating the water had cooled down enough by now Eren poured it over the tea leaves in the small, Japanese tea pot and set the timer to a minute whilst gathering two cups and a spoon and storing away the tea bag again.

When the timer beeped Eren divided the tea between the two cups, religiously switching between them whilst pouring the green liquid out of the pot. Then he put the ice cream, cups, spoon, and a box of tissues—just in cases—onto a tray and carried everything to the coffee table in the living room to place it next to Levi’s laptop.

Tumblr was still on the screen and, yes, there it was. Still opened and tagged with lots of crying faces, hearts and screams in caps: The new chapter of Levi’s most favourite manga. The source of all—okay, a little more than half of—the tears and pain in this household.

Eren sat down on the floor and slowly rubbed over Levi’s blanket-covered legs besides him. “Shhh, baby. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I hate the world! I hate the stupid mangaka—I don’t care how marvellous he is. I hate the haters. They’re all stupid.” Levi sniffled. “Please stay here for a bit…”

Oh, god. This was bad.

“Darling? Why don’t you come out there so I can hug you properly and make it better, hm? I even made tea.”

The sniffles stopped and the blanket was lifted just the tiniest bit, until a pair of reddened eyes peeked out, in the middle of a tear-stained face. Even Levi’s nose was already red as well and Eren had to collect all his strength to not reach out. When Levi was like this, it was like having to deal with a shy cat and it was best to let him decide the pace of progress.

“What tea?”

 “The Gyokuro. And there’s ice cream…”

“Which one?”

“New York Super Fudge Chunk.”

“Already opened?”

“Brand new. All yours. Alongside a hug?”

Another sniffle, but it sounded more collected than before. “Okay.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Slowly emerging from his fort whilst making sure the blanket would not move below his shoulders to keep him warm and safe, Levi sat up in a cross-legged position. And after blowing his nose—bringing the tissues had been the right choice—Levi awkwardly patted on the cusion next to him so Eren wouldn’t have to stay on the floor.

“Thank you.” Eren took the seat next to Levi and carefully nudged his shoulder with his, before drinking a small sip of the tea. The soothing flavour washed over his palate and in the corner of his vision he could see Levi was closing his eyes as he tasted it too.

“You want to talk about it?”

Reaching for the ice cream Levi shook his head.

“You want me to get the pillow?”

Levi shrugged as he fumbled with the lid of the can, but it was so slowly that Eren couldn’t be fooled. He stood up again and went into their bedroom.

It had started out as a silly idea after Levi had hit his otaku phase. But the mere prospect of cuddling one’s most favourite character into blissful oblivion was a secret wish that hadn’t gotten out of his head. And on one birthday Levi had opened a big, fluffy sack from oversees and beamed at his own, extra-stuffed, dakimakura with not only one, not two, but three different pillow cases to choose from. It had been the best thank you sex Eren had ever had.

Sleeping—just sleeping—with said pillow, however, had quickly turned out to be quite an adventure. With its proud length of 150 centimeter it nearly was as big as Levi and thanks to the extra filling in it, it took more space than originally assumed.

On the plus side: Levi was a clinger, Eren not that very much, and with that pillow to hug at night it was a good solution for the both of them. Still, apart from the fact that it was a bit strange to morning cuddle not only with one man, but with a man and his pillow, it also…was in the way a lot. And after talking about it like ‘adults’, they had decided to remove it from the bed, and take it as a safety net for comfort in hard times.

A gut feeling had told Eren a few days back that it would be wise to maybe wash the cover again as a precaution. It had been a good call. And hence days the pillow had a freshly cleaned, ‘Morning Sun’-scented pair of characters on it: Two different guys in weird military armor, with long swords, and some strange metal equipment on their hips, both looking a bit wounded. One had a dark scowl on his face that Eren somehow couldn’t take seriously, and the other had softer features and appeared to be younger. Levi sometimes joked they looked like the both of them. Eren wasn’t that sure.

Hoisting the pillow up into his arms Eren stumbled blindly into the living room where he dropped the monster into Levi’s hands. He welcomed it with open arms and immediately hugged it close. That he didn’t even care about chocolate stains maybe smudging his most beloved characters only conformed the seriousness of the situation.

“Better?”

“Mm.” The answer was muffled again, now by the fact that Levi’s face was buried deep in the soft object of his affection. “They smell good.”

“Yeah, I just bathed them.”

“Thanks.” It sounded more like “fangs” and Eren couldn’t help but giggle mildly at the image in front of him. Levi’s one hand still grabbed on to the ice cream, the other was clenched around the pillow and the only parts of Levi that weren’t covered by soft fluffiness were his arms and the back of his head. Someday Eren would have to take a photo of this.

“Okay. What happened? Tell me.”

Levi’s face emerged from the pillow. “It’s awful.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

Levi’s hand around the pillow loosened its grip. Chocolate seemed to be more important right now.

“Can I do anything to help?”

“Make it go away.”

“Cant’t, darling.”

“Shit.”

“Hm.”

Ice cream was dripping off the spoon and back into the canister as it came to a halt in midair while Levi stared blankly into a nothingness in front of him. “You know what’s even the worst part?”

“What?”

“How one of the characters looked like. Like he’s having the most shitty day of his life. What he has. And trust me, he already had enough of those. And everybody is agitated over everything else but that because there’s so much other shit going on.” Levi shuddered and shoved the ice cream into his mouth. “Fucking awful.”

“Mm.”

“And Erwin and Hanji will want to talk about this at work tomorrow. They’ll want to hear my theories for the next chapter and discuss the story in excruciating detail. And I can’t, Eren. I can’t.”

“Mm.”

“And I can’t call in sick, because they’ll know.” He lowered his voice. “They know everything! And even if they don’t, Mike will sniff it. I’m doomed.”

“Mm.”

“Maybe I’ll hide in the bathroom all day long.”

The ice cream was empty and Eren took the can out of Levi’s hand so he wouldn’t have to let go of the plush monster in his arms to put it back onto the table. “Hm. Do that.”

“I will.” The pillow was hugged closer again. “I saw this coming and it still hurts, love. And now I’ll have to wait another month. That’s 30 days!”

Eren moved closer and wrapped his arm around Levi’s shoulders. It always helped him relax. “I know.” After pressing his husband—pillow included—against himself Eren let go of Levi’s shoulder to run his hand through Levi’s hair. “How many chapters are still to come?”

“Too many.”

“Hm.”

“You’ll help me through that, won’t you? Because, I can’t–”

“Of course.” He kissed Levi’s temple.

The worst part seemed to be over for now…at least until Levi would look a his laptop again.

“What do you think about spending the rest of the evening on the couch together? Watching something. Cuddling the crap out of the other?”

“Watching what?”

“Your choice.”

Levi sniffed once more. “I know just the thing…”

“Good. Should I fill up the tea pot again?”

“Later. Please stay for now?”

“I will.”

“I’ll even share my blanket…look!”

Eren smiled and crawled under it, pulling Levi close as they lack back and kissing his chocolate flavoured, cold lips. A pair of arms let go of the pillow and wrapped around Eren’s waist.

“It will be alright. I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> …so self-indulgent!
> 
> Feedback is highly appreciated. <3
> 
> My [tumblr](http://sugarplum-senpai.tumblr.com/).


End file.
